Welcome back friend! Did you miss me? Are your knees weak and palms sweaty from the tea withdrawal? Have you been itching to boil that kettle? Because I have.

As you know, tomorrow, 19^th July, is Sips Tea’s 1^st birthday! I know, I know, time flies. But it’s come around at a rather bleak moment. Sadly, last week, England lost the Euro 2020 final and I must say, it was a focal low point for this country. Though, not because of the loss, but because of what it, shall we say, re-revealed.

For me, the fallout from England’s loss showed English tribalism at its finest, where those who responded by racially abusing players stood as gate keepers to the village.

When Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho missed their penalties, their acceptance into Englishness was renounced. They, and indeed all whom they represent, were reminded that our place here, our belonging, is conditional and the moment we fail or fall short of expectation, we are no longer welcome.  

It’s not just racism, it’s xenophobia too

The racial abuse that Saka, Rashford and Sancho received following that game not only put the government’s racial report to shame, but it, and the Euros in general, highlighted the need for one around this country’s xenophobic nature: a good look into its deep hatred of foreigners.

Xenophobia – The dislike or prejudice against people from other countries

We don’t often use that word, ‘xenophobic’, because here in the UK, racism and xenophobia are delicately intertwined in many societal issues. However, they are separate issues and we should acknowledge the elements that make up both.

As well as a rejection of their Blackness, what the three lions experienced last week was the consequence of not being a ‘good immigrant’. While the UK, specifically England, believes itself to be a land of acceptance and wonderful melting pot of ethnicities and culture, the reality is sadly far from it. In truth, you are only accepted and deemed worthy when you prove yourself to be ‘good’.

When you are classified as an immigrant, like Saka, Rashford and Sancho, you’re forever having to prove your worth. To society, the media and the government, you are alien until you are achieving or showcasing your superpowers: scaling buildings with your bare hands to save children dangling from balconies, winning gold at the Olympics, or successfully taking England to their first Euros final in 55 years. You are expected to serve: to be doctors, care workers and lawyers, constantly giving and receiving nothing, but the title ‘British’, in return. And for that alone, you are expected to be grateful.

When you are anything less however, that title is stripped, and suddenly what were chants of ‘it’s coming home’ become racial threats and orders to ‘go back to where you came from’.

Like many, I was disappointed by the blowback that the three lions received. However, I was not surprised.

The presence of Black players in the England team was always going to be a point of contention, given that immigrants, Black immigrants especially, cannot claim Englishness. We can be British, but we will never be English. However, this year we were allowed to be. This year, as the Sterling’s and Saka’s led the way, we were invited to be: encouraged to revel in English pride, identity and belonging. But the moment those three lions missed, they were no longer ‘good’. They were no longer welcomed. They were no longer English, they were Nigerian, West Indian and Caribbean, and they did not belong here.

It was a blunt reminder: a dark end to what had been a pleasant and unifying championship, but given the society that we live in, it was to be expected.

Gary Neville said it best in an interview with Sky News: “it starts from the top”. Children follow their parents and that’s not to remove accountability from the ones who enacted the abuse, but it’s to note that the government lead by example and there are people who follow.

Earlier on in the Euros, Boris Johnson condoned the booing of the England team for taking the knee as a stand against racial inequality. And so, of course the abuse was going to happen and more than just those three players would be affected.

I watched the Euros final in the pub. I was the only girl in a group of majority Black boys, in a majority White male setting. For the most part, the evening was good; tense and unnerving, but exhilarating. There had been highs and lows, chanting and beers thrown in air. There had been excitement. But when we lost, that feeling was firmly replaced with dread and I was scared for my friends.

Racial and xenophobic undertones within our society manifest themselves in ugly ways. What starts of as a few beery boos, quickly escalates to abusive comments on social media and then has the potential to become violence directed at everyday people on the street. People like the Black boys that were sat around me. People like Dea-John Reid and Stephen Lawrence, whose deaths were not triggered by an international championship, but like the abuse experienced in the Euros, they were the result of a society that enables discrimination and prejudice to go unchecked. And so of course, when the three Black players missed their penalties, I was afraid for my friends.

This is England. At least if you are an immigrant or non-White individual it is. You at times can forget, but in moments like the aftermath of the Euro 2020 final, you are reminded that your sense of peace and safety can at times be fragile. So fragile in fact, that a missed goal in a football match can make you fearful.

The Euro 2020 Championship; it’s not quite what I had in mind for the prelude to Sips Tea’s first birthday, but the issue of racism and xenophobia is important to talk about. And so, talk about it more we shall.

Get used to boiling that kettle friend. Year two is about to begin and it’s piping hot. *Sips Tea*

Feature image by Reuben Dangoor